Blue skies

It continues to be the nicest summer we can remember in the Pacific Northwest and we hope you are all enjoying this magnificent time of the year wherever you are. Thank you for all the family vacation pictures, texts, and e-mails. We’ve been thrilled to have so many of our out-of-town family and friends come visit. Seeing your smiling faces and hearing about your families has been the absolute best medicine and our doors are always open. Thanks also to those of you who have shared your homes with us. We’ve enjoyed getting back to the Methow Valley, visiting Portland for a weekend, taking a day-trip to Mt. Vernon, and spending a week in Sunriver.

But far and away the brightest part of the summer is Abby. She is doing terrific. Her latest CT scan was just as encouraging as the first – with no visible signs of cancer in her body.

I wish you all could have seen Abby’s fist pump and exuberant “YES!” when she heard the positive news. Lee, Abby’s radiologist dad, also got the opportunity to put his eyes on the scans. It has been such a blessing to have Lee and Mary Jean – an oncology nurse in her own right – join us for these checkpoints. Everything is working as we’d hoped and your love, thoughts, prayers, and encouragement is helping so very much in our healing process.

The next waypoint on our journey is radiation therapy, which begins in August and runs five days a week for five weeks alongside chemotherapy treatment. The radiation’s job is to pinpoint the areas of positive margins where cancer cells may have been left from surgery and eliminate them. It’s tricky business. The team at SCCA is carefully examining how to position Abby to safely radiate these areas without risking damage to her organs. Please focus your thoughts, prayers and meditation that Abby’s doctors find the optimal placement to radiate any and all remaining cancer cells while being as gentle on her body as possible now and down the road.

With Abby gearing up for radiation I’ve been spending more time on my bicycle getting ready for Obliteride on August 9th. Last year, Obliteride raised $2.245 million, 100% of which benefitted cancer research at Fred Hutch. Even after spending years racings bicycles, I’ve never been more excited, more thankful, and more proud to ride my bike, than I am in preparation for Obliteride.

For Abby: Visit Abby at UWMC this week. She goes in this afternoon and is there until Sunday (July 28th –August 2nd). She would absolutely love to see you. If you can’t make it over, give her a call or text her, she’d love to hear from you.

For Jaren and Miri: Weekday Playdates for Miri – Let us know if you’d like to coordinate a playdate between our sweet little toddlers between now and back-to-school, and we can connect you with Ari, our au pair.

For Justin:Ride or Fund Obliteride – It’s not too late to ride with me and the Abby’s Army team or to fund this important cause.

Thanks for everything you do for us. Hope you enjoy some of the photos of our summer exploits and please keep sharing your family photos too!